TEHRAN (AFP) — Israel said Monday it was striking military targets across Tehran, a day after United States President Donald Trump insisted a deal could “soon” be reached, while not ruling out ground operations.
Iran also launched fresh strikes on Israel, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia after its electrical facilities came under attack at the weekend, cutting power to parts of Tehran and surrounding areas.
The war has inflicted havoc on the global economy, with fuel shortages across much of Asia, stock markets in turmoil, and oil prices soaring — the main US benchmark rising past $100 a barrel and Brent close to $117.
Israel’s military said Monday it had struck dozens of weapons production sites including a long-range surface-to-air missiles manufacturing line in Iran’s capital Tehran.
“During waves of airstrikes over the past two days in Tehran, approximately 40 weapons production and research facilities were struck,” the military said.
The targets, it said, included “a facility used for assembling long-range surface-to-air missiles,” a site assembling components for “anti-tank missiles and small anti-aircraft missiles,” and a facility that produced and researched “ballistic missile engines.”
As Israel pressed its offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Indonesia confirmed Monday that one of its peacekeepers was killed after the United Nations force said a projectile hit one of its positions.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said they did not know the origin of the projectile but had launched an investigation.
The Israeli military said it launched a wave of strikes in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Monday targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
“The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Beirut,” the military said in a brief statement.
Regime change
Iran confirmed on Monday that Revolutionary Guards commander Alireza Tangsiri had been killed, days after Israel said it targeted him in an air strike.
A statement carried by the Guards’ Sepah News website said Tangsiri “succumbed to severe injuries” from the attack.
Trump, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed in the month-long US-Israeli war against Iran, said “regime change” had been achieved and the new leadership was “much more reasonable.”
“We’ve had regime change,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change.”